In this post, I’m going to tell you about how I do my weekly outfit planning for my kids. It may seem like a lot of work, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, weekly outfit planning can save so much time!
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What is Weekly Outfit Planning?
I started planning outfits for Little Miss a week at a time about a year ago. Nothing stalls a morning quite like an opinionated threenager wanting to choose her own clothes. Am I right?
So I set out to make a plan that would make getting her dressed a little more streamlined.
I’d seen closet systems that include a weekly outfit planning component, but most of the ones I saw were long, and Little Miss’s closet is a little funky. Plus, when they’re long and tall like that, it’s hard for someone that’s three feet tall to reach the first few days of the week.
That’s when I thought about clear plastic drawers.
You can buy those drawers in many different configurations, but I decided that the best setup for us was the large, three-drawer unit.
I decided that one drawer could hold two days’ worth of clothes and that her dress for worship on Sunday could hang up next to the drawers. Any extra clothes, I just set on top of the drawer unit.
For Monkey and Cub, I got a single drawer unit and just doubled their clothes up. Some days they wear matching outfits, and other days they don’t, but either way, all of their clothes and accessories are right there in one place.
Now that I had the most significant hurdle cleared, I needed to figure out how to label the drawers. My mom has a Cricut and loves projects, so I had her print off the days of the week (Monday-Saturday) in a large, easy to read font and attached them to the fronts of the drawers.
Then, I filled each drawer with two outfits for the week, and we were set.
Why Should I Do Weekly Outfit Planning for My Kids?
You might be thinking that this sounds like an awful lot of work to pick out clothes. And it might be for you. But for me, I spend a few minutes every Saturday evening picking out clothes for the girls and putting them in the drawers. This saves me the few minutes I’d spend every single morning trying to get outfits and accessories together for three kids.
For me, a few minutes Saturday evening is much more feasible than a few minutes every day of the week.
It’s also helpful to know if a particular piece of clothing is missing that we need for the week. It gives me time to track it down and get it washed.
Another bonus is that it’s helping Little Miss learn to read the days of the week, and it’s giving her some independence when she gets dressed. Instead of having to go to her room and pick out clothes during our morning routine, I can say, “Go get the clothes out of your Tuesday drawer and get dressed.”
As far as the twins go, it sure saves my sanity, having outfits already picked out ahead of time. Otherwise, I’m trying to find pants that match a top with a toddler on the changing pad yelling at me!
Initial Setup
If you’d like to set up your weekly outfit planning as I did, it’s pretty simple. Just follow these steps:
- purchase and put together the drawer unit
- find a place in your child’s closet or bedroom to keep it
- decide on a way to label the days of the week
That’s it. It’s really quite simple to set up.
My Routine
This is the routine I follow each week as I plan outfits and fill the drawers.
Get all the clothes clean
I have assigned days of the week for laundry in our house, to keep my sanity. I do Monkey and Cub’s clothes on Thursdays and Little Miss’s clothes on Fridays, so everything is clean and put away by Saturday evening.
Check the weather for the week ahead
Next, I pull out my phone and check the weather for the week. Here in Oklahoma, it can be 70 degrees one day and snowing the next, so it pays to look ahead.
Check my calendar for special events
While my phone is out, I also check my calendar to see what we have coming up during the week. There are recurring events, like worship, swim lessons, and soccer practice, that I know about in advance.
I also check for any special events that might require a specific type of clothing. If I know we’re going to be home all day, I’m good with the girls in stained onesies and cruddy play clothes. More than likely, if we’re home, they’re just going to get dirty outside. Or eating. (Anyone else’s kids incredibly messy when they eat?!)
Pick out the outfits
Now it’s time to get busy picking clothes. Typically I lay the clothes out by day of the week and then put them in the drawers. For Little Miss, each day contains a shirt, pants, panties, and socks. For the twins, I include a top, bottoms, and socks.
Once I have an outfit picked out, it goes in the drawer, and I move on. Literally, this takes me less than 5 minutes. If I let Little Miss help me choose, it might take a few extra minutes of explaining why we can’t wear shorts in the middle of winter, but it’s not bad. And it’s much better than getting into that debate in the morning as we’re trying to get dressed and get out the door!
Gather all accessories
Finally, I add in any accessories we might need. This could include shoes that aren’t worn regularly, headbands or hairbows, special socks or tights, etc.
Now you have all of your kids’ clothes picked and set out for the whole week! Doesn’t that feel nice?
Have you ever considered doing weekly outfit planning for your kids, or is this all new to you? Would you change anything? Let me know in the comments section below!
Want more tips to simplify your life with kids? Check out these posts:
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